Yuecheng Reservoir in Cixian County

Yuecheng Reservoir in Cixian County

Yuecheng Reservoir is situated at the junction of Cixian County in Handan City, Hebei Province, and Anyang County in Henan Province, west of Yuecheng Village, Yuecheng Town, Cixian County. It serves as a control project on the Zhang River of the Zhang-Wei River system within the Haihe River Basin. The reservoir governs a catchment area of 18,100 km², which makes up 99.4% of the entire Zhang River basin, and has a total storage capacity of 1.3 billion m³. Construction started in 1959, flood interception was achieved in 1960, water storage began in 1961, and the project was fully completed in 1970.

The reservoir's functions include flood control, irrigation, urban water supply, and power generation. Through reservoir regulation, it ensures the safety of the vast downstream plain areas as well as the Beijing-Guangzhou, Beijing-Shanghai, and Beijing-Kowloon railways, along with the Beijing-Zhuhai and Beijing-Fuzhou expressways. It irrigates 2.2 million mu of farmland via the Minyou Canal in Hebei Province and the Zhangnan Canal in Henan Province. It also partially supplies industrial and domestic water to the cities of Handan and Anyang, while generating electricity through irrigation.

Earth Dams: The structure includes one main dam and four auxiliary dams, with a total length of 6,294.5 m. Both the main and auxiliary dams are roller-compacted homogeneous earth-fill dams. During heightening and expansion, sand and gravel materials were used to construct full-section sloped embankments on the downstream side, with the maximum dam height reaching 55.5 m.

Spillway: Located between the main and auxiliary dams, the foundation mainly consists of Tertiary-era sandy layers, with some parts being clay or conglomerate. It is an open-channel steep-slope spillway. The inlet sluice has nine bays and employs a three-level bottom-flow energy dissipation system, with a maximum discharge capacity of 12,820 m³/s.

Flood Discharge Tunnel: This is a buried pipe structure under the dam, situated on the left bank of the main dam and built on poorly cemented Quaternary conglomerate. It consists of an intake tower, tunnel body, and outlet energy dissipation section, with a total of nine bays. The tunnel diameter is 6×6.7 m. Except for the rightmost bay, which is used for hydropower water conveyance, the other eight bays are used for flood discharge, with a maximum discharge capacity of 3,530 m³/s. It is the largest dam-underneath buried pipe project in China.

Power Station: Located on the right side of the stilling basin of the flood discharge tunnel, it draws water through a 5 m diameter, 280 m long pressure steel pipe installed in the rightmost bay of the flood discharge tunnel for power generation, with an installed capacity of 17,000 kW.

Canal Head Structures: The sluice gates of the Minyou Canal in Hebei Province and the Zhangnan Canal in Henan Province are located on the right wall of the stilling basin of the flood discharge tunnel, each with a maximum diversion flow of 100 m³/s.

From 1987 to 1991, the Yuecheng Reservoir dam underwent heightening and expansion. The dam crest elevation was raised from the original 157.0 m to 159.5 m, using sand and gravel materials to construct slope compression on the downstream section. Along with the dam heightening, the spillway project was also reinforced, increasing the design discharge capacity from 11,000 m³/s to 12,820 m³/s. The flood discharge tunnel project was also modified during this period.

Transportation Guide

Location: West of Yuecheng Village, Yuecheng Town, Cixian County, Handan City, Hebei Province

How to Get There: Take a bus from Cixian County bound for Yuecheng Town to reach the site.